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Pickens compliments Obama energy plan

From NBC's Mark Hudspeth and Domenico MontanaroAfter Obama mentioned T. Boone Pickens several times in his energy speech today, Pickens -- not kidding -- had praise for the presumptive Democratic nominee.

"I'm strongly encouraged by Senator Obama's speech on America's energy future. Foreign oil is killing our economy and putting our nation at risk," wrote Pickens, a billionaire oil man, who proposes ending America's dependence on oil by promoting renewable enegies like wind power and natural gas. Pickens was one of the principal financiers of the Swift Boat ads against John Kerry. "When I started this campaign my goal was to make this the biggest issue in the coming election and the top priority to be addressed in the first hundred days of the next administration. This issue is clearly moving up in the priority of political debate; Senator Obama's statement is an indication that is what is indeed happening. I will continue to push this as a priority for the rest of the year."

Earlier, in Obama's speech, the Illinois senator said, "We can't simply pretend, as Sen, McCain does, that we can drill our way out of this problem," Obama said. "T. Boone Pickens is right. We need a much bolder and much bigger set of solutions."